For seven football teams in the South Metro area, the road to a state championship begins this weekend. And for most, the first stop is not at home but miles and miles away.

Woodward, Riverdale, Jonesboro and Tri-Cities will all be traveling but not as far as Creekside, which faces Thomas County Central in Thomasville. The Seminoles (7-3) have to make at least a 222-mile trip depending on the route.

Last Friday, Creekside punched its ticket to the postseason with a 42-0 home victory against Drew in a Region 4-AAAAA play-in game. Chris Sanders-McCollum had five catches for 142 yards and three touchdowns for the Seminoles, who had five takeaways (three interceptions and two fumbles). Evan Berry threw two TDs and ran for another in Creekside’s sixth win in seven contests.

After a one-year absence from the playoffs, Creekside will meet Thomas County Central (8-2) for the first time since 2000.

The Riverdale Raiders (7-3) will also be heading the same way but at least 207 miles to Cairo High School. This will be Riverdale’s first-ever trip to Cairo for football.

Fred Ward, Ti’Keem Cooper and Asania Aderhold all had rushing TDs for the Raiders, who clinched a postseason berth — their first since 2005 — with a 20-10 win over Locust Grove in a Region 4-AAAA play-in game last Friday.

With a 56-22 rout against Dougherty last week, Cairo (8-2) won its seventh consecutive contest.

The Jonesboro Cardinals (9-1) do not have to go as far as Creekside or Riverdale but they have at least a 152-mile trek to Albany to face Westover (7-3) for the second time this season. In September, the Cardinals defeated the Patriots 34-12 at Hugh Mills Stadium.

To seal Jonesboro’s second consecutive trip to the playoffs, Cameron Sutton scored three times and Patrick Petty rushed for 167 yards and two touchdowns in a 43-28 triumph over Dutchtown in the Region 4-AAAA play-in game last week.

Westover ended the regular season with a 20-7 win over Albany for its fifth straight win.

While Woodward is not required to travel the same amount of distance, the War Eagles (7-3) will be visiting 8-2 North Hall, which is nearly 80 miles away. Woodward had a bye last week while the Trojans had their six-game winning streak ended.

Despite having the worst record of all these teams, Tri-Cities (4-6) does not have to stray to far from home but the Bulldogs do have the challenge of facing No. 1 seeded Lovejoy (9-1). The Wildcats defeated the Bulldogs 24-20 when they were in Region 4-AAAA last season.

Also in Class AAAAAA, Langston Hughes (9-1) will host Rockdale County this weekend. The Panthers are in the playoffs for the first time.

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